


Saviours

by Nival_Vixen



Category: Sky High (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Evil, Complete, F/M, Good versus Evil, Heroes & Heroines, Heroes to Villains, Villains, Villains to Heroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 16:32:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11062836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nival_Vixen/pseuds/Nival_Vixen
Summary: Royal Pain defeated Will. Fifteen years later, Maxville lay in ruins.





	Saviours

"We're not here to hurt you, we're here to _save_ you."

 

Redhead snorted at the same bullshit they usually spouted, ignoring the familiar words easily enough. She flew at her opponent with a flurry of fast kicks and punches that would have made her mentors proud, even though each one was side-stepped or avoided nimbly. Beside her, Blue Eyes was fighting with his own opponent, who was taking his hits far too easily considering he had super strength.

 

"The history books are wrong, you know," Redhead's opponent said mid-fight.

 

"No one cares," Redhead sneered, letting loose with another flurry of motion and coming _this_ close to landing a kick.

 

"Are you seriously going to stop fighting to _monologue_ at us?" Blue Eyes added beside her with an incredulous laugh.

 

"No. You're going to stop fighting to listen to us, Steve Theodore Stronghold," Blossom replied.

 

"Who's that?" he snorted, rolling his eyes.

 

"You," she said, pressing a button on the remote beside her.

 

Behind her, a slideshow started to play, projected from the ceiling and onto the warehouse wall. The warehouse was their opponents' latest base of operations, discovered by a few scouts, and Blue Eyes and Redhead had volunteered to take care of them. They'd been given strict instructions to _finish it_ this time, and they were planning on doing exactly that.

 

Failure wasn't a pleasant option and with the awful punishment in mind, Blue Eyes wasn't planning on looking at the obvious decoy and being the reason he and Redhead failed. Despite this resolution, he soon found himself staring at the wall nonetheless. Beside him, Redhead went still as well, seeing her own face amongst the photographs that were being projected onto the warehouse wall. Some were burnt at the edges, curling in the photos that had been taken of them, clearing salvaged from the ruins of Maxville itself.

 

It was obvious that it was _them_ , from the past, perhaps, or a future that hadn't come to pass? There were even yearbook photos, a photo of their marriage, another photo of them in front of a defeated giant robot, her flying and holding him up, his hands on his hips and a bright smile on his face.

 

"You're both survivors of Sky High, the school that fell and destroyed Maxville. All of your classmates - and teachers - are survivors as well," Blossom explained. "Royal Pain used her Pacifier on you all on the night of Homecoming and brought Sky High down."

 

"She killed your son by throwing him off Sky High itself. He... He didn't get your flight of power, Josie," Ignite said with a brief nod.

 

Blue Eyes looked at Redhead beside him in a new light, not just as a fighting partner, but maybe as someone who could love him.

 

She snorted in disbelief when she saw his expression. "Dream on, Blue Eyes."

 

"As if, Redhead," he muttered, arms folded as he turned away from her.

 

"All right, what the hell is this? I know you guys haven't got a life outside of these ruins, but this is a new low," Redhead sneered at their opponents.

 

"Like we said: the history books are wrong," Ignite said. "Your name is Josie Stronghold, nee DeMarco. Before the destruction of Maxville, you and Steve were superheroes known as Jetstream and the Commander."

 

"Those are idiotic names, and, **us** _superheroes?_ That's even more idiotic," Redhead snapped. "Do you honestly think we're going to fall for this crap? So you found a bunch of photos of people that look like us, who cares?"

 

"Considering Royal Pain turned you into babies, killed your son, and then took away your ability to procreate, I would think you'd care," Blossom replied, simple and matter-of-fact.

 

Redhead frowned. "How'd you know about that?"

 

If these _heroes_ had people supporting them, Royal Pain would reward her _big time_ for their names.

 

"We know people," Ignite replied, frustratingly vague.

 

"Whatever. It was like a million years ago and that's got nothing to do with this and _now_. So, if you've stopped reminiscing, can we get back to defeating you?" Redhead asked, sneering at them.

 

Blossom seemed perplexed at her response, her lack of emotion, and shook her head sadly. To Blue Eyes, it looked like she'd given up, like the photographs were her last hope for redemption. Then she breathed in deeply and looked up at them again, her expression serious and resigned. "If that's the way you want it to be, then you can attack us again. This time we won't hold back."

 

Redhead was surprised at this admission as she'd barely escaped with her life after their previous fight; she still bore several white scars from the flames and it had taken _days_ to get all of the splinters out of her body. She licked her lips, her eyes bright at the very idea of the new challenge, and she hovered up into the air, steady and certain.

 

"What about you?" Ignite asked, looking to Blue Eyes.

 

He took a moment to actually think about it. In his partnership with Redhead, Blue Eyes was the calmer of the two, balancing options and weighing his responses. Redhead was far more emotional, though she didn't show it in her expression, but rather in her fighting style and impatience. It was the reason she had more scars than any other student at the School of Pain. Despite this flaw, she was an amazing strategist and had spent _weeks_ studying every historical war strategy possible. At the School of Pain's annual game day, she had almost beaten Royal Pain herself in a three-tiered chess match.

 

Blue Eyes finally nodded - neither of their opponents had attacked, though had they been facing another student from Pain, he knew they wouldn't have waited - and he stood beside Redhead, his fists raised. He didn't really want to fight, but he'd grown up with her by his side and he wasn't about to leave her to die on her own.

 

"All right! Bring it on, matchstick," Redhead crowed, diving for Ignite.

 

In all of their previous fights, their opponents had showed little of their skill beyond tying them up or throwing a misplaced ball of fire or vine here or there. Now, as she had promised, they weren't holding back. In a matter of seconds, Redhead and Blue Eyes were both aware that they were seriously outmatched.

 

Up until today, Ignite had only thrown baseball-sized fireballs, usually designed to herd them away so he and Blossom could retreat once she'd tied them up with a vine to a tree she grew or the closest vertical object. Over the years, Blossom had grown a tree or two, a few vines here and there, but nothing that had lasted more than an hour or looked like it could cause any damage; all of the plant life she affected practically disappeared once she and Ignite were away and safe.

 

Redhead had often sneered to the others in the cafeteria that they were _weak_ , that Puddle and Glow were obviously idiots if they'd succumbed and died at the hands of idiotic _heroes_ like Ignite and Blossom. Blue Eyes never pointed out that they'd never found the bodies, and that, for all of her boasting and bravo, neither he nor Redhead had actually won against the two heroes either.

 

Today was different.

 

Ignite was _on fire_ , flames covering him from head to toe, and the fireballs he threw were the size of beach balls. The fireballs didn't lessen in size, even when faced with the entire _forest_ that Blossom had sprouted up around them. The trees stretched up to the sky, tearing up the corrugated roof. Redhead saw her chance for escape and without a thought for Blue Eyes, she shot upwards into the sky. The trees grew that much faster and taller, entangling Redhead in the branches before she could escape. On the ground, Blue Eyes stared up at his partner in the trees, the vines that entwined both branches and person as if they'd been growing there for hundreds or perhaps even _thousands_ of years, not just mere seconds.

 

A large fireball was thrown at Redhead, still entangled in the trees' branches and the vines, and Blue Eyes' jaw dropped. _With a fireball like that, Redhead would die_.

 

He ran for the closest tree, punching at the thick trunk as hard as he possibly could. The tree groaned loudly, but his punch had the desired effect and the tree slowly began to tilt.

 

 _Too slow!_ his mind screamed, so he pushed on the tree as hard as he could to block the fireball from hitting its mark.

 

Blue Eyes let out a cry of pain as he pushed with all of his strength to stop the fireball, to save Redhead, to do _something_ other than stand there, and the tree toppled directly into the path of the fireball, just in the nick of time. The branches burnt to ash almost immediately, though from where he stood, Blue Eyes could already see green shoots sprouting out of the tree branch harmlessly.

 

"You idiot! When I get down from here, I'm going to kill you! You should have let me die!" Redhead yelled down at him, pulling at the vines with short hisses of pain as the thorns dug into her palms.

 

"Why did you save her? She wouldn't do the same for you," Ignite said, sounding curious.

 

Blue Eyes shrugged. "Didn't want to see her die, that's all."

 

From up above, Redhead continued to curse and yell at him, calling him weak and stupid and - worst of all - a goody-two-shoes _hero_. Blue Eyes looked up at the projector still showing their photographs on the wall, and wondered if it was such a bad thing to be considered a hero, after all. Then, as he was looking up at the photos, they disappeared instantly.

 

He looked over to see Ignite and Blossom at one of their computers, turning things off, destroying other things with bursts of flames and seeds. Blue Eyes stepped forward at the thought of them destroying his photographs, his previous life, but he didn't know what to say or do and simply stood there watching.

 

They didn't even try to fight him, simply destroyed the last of the evidence - as they always did - and left.

 

Blue Eyes dragged out one of the crooked chairs, bent the metal legs back into shape, and sat to wait for Blossom's trees and vines to disappear. Redhead spent the whole hour and a half cursing at him, her voice going hoarse. At the end, as she was lowered to the ground carefully, Redhead no longer had a voice left. She could still glare though, and it was only a reminder of their punishment that convinced her _not_ to leave him in the wastelands of Maxville.

 

...

 

 _It was almost a blessing that she'd lost her voice because now she couldn't refute anything he told Royal Pain_ , Blue Eyes thought, sitting across from said villain - and their headmaster - with Redhead fuming away by his side.

 

"They defeated you again?" Royal Pain asked, voice sharp and angry.

 

"Yes, Royal Pain. They have been holding back on us. Ignite turned into a human flame and Blossom grew an entire forest around us."

 

Royal Pain's expression turned calculating almost instantly - Blue Eyes often wondered if it was a result of her power, turning the cogs in her own mind as easily as she manipulated the technology and flying base around them.

 

"How long did the forest last?"

 

"Half of the trees were gone in ten minutes. Apart from the one Redhead was caught in, they were all gone in twenty minutes. Her tree lasted an hour," Blue Eyes lied.

 

Beside him, Redhead barely refrained from smacking him. She'd learned the hard way that doing something simple like hitting Blue Eyes resulted in a broken or bruised hand on her part instead. She had no idea why he was lying - and to _Royal Pain_ no less - but Redhead was secretly terrified that if she ratted him out, he'd let her go through their punishment alone.

 

Thankfully, Royal Pain didn't question Blue Eyes or his response. She pressed a button on her desk and all of the intercoms across the base turned on. "Every scout is to find the whereabouts of Blossom and Ignite. You have until midnight Sunday to complete this task," she added. With that done, she then pressed another button and several holes around the base opened, robotic scouts flying out - all equipped with digital scanners, heat thermo sensors, and satellite imaging.

 

Blue Eyes could only imagine the scrambling and wide-eyed terror of the human scouts - it was already Saturday evening, after all - and as the scouts didn't have the same level of power he and Redhead had, it would probably take most of them the rest of the night to just get off the base safely. Despite Royal Pain designing their jetpacks, the scouts' safety wasn't a guarantee either. Sometimes it was punishment, sometimes it was malfunction, other times there was no explanation but for a dead body on the ground. Blue Eyes tried not to shudder at the thought and was especially thankful for his partner's skill to fly.

 

Royal Pain turned her attention back to the young man and woman in front of her. She tried her best not to let their past lives affect their present _or_ future, but honestly, there were days when she could look at them and _only_ see Jetstream and the Commander. "You failed in your task and you will be punished accordingly. Return to your rooms," Royal Pain instructed.

 

Redhead nodded, Blue Eyes standing up beside her, and they both left.

 

Royal Pain watched them go, the door sliding shut behind them. She truly understood that any nostalgia she felt was something that they would never feel, and she couldn't reminisce with any of the students, and nearly everyone else was dead. A few of the teachers might be inclined to relive their glory days with her, but she had to remain their boss first and foremost. Besides, if reminiscing with the likes of Penny and Lash were all she had to look forward to, it would be a sorry day indeed. Despite all of this and the loneliness that this job sometimes entailed, Royal Pain never once regretted throwing Stitches off the edge of the base all of those years ago.

 

Once Blue Eyes and Redhead were in their rooms, Royal Pain closed her eyes and took a brief amount of concentration to close the walls in on them.

 

Redhead _hated_ this punishment, hated small spaces, hated the thought of being buried alive like the people in Maxville had been; the scouts sometimes returned back to the base with useful things like toasters or technology, but there were times when they came back with sentimental things like toys and books. Redhead sneered at the other students that kept that sort of sentimental crap, but the real reason she couldn't keep it herself was that she was terrified she'd end up like the owners of those belongings: squished by some unknown force, buried alive, left for dead, and no one would care.

 

The first time they'd been punished in this way - four years old and Blue Eyes had failed to destroy the stuffed bear as they'd been instructed, so of course, _she'd_ been punished as well - Redhead had _screamed_ her lungs out, certain she was dying. A light had come on in her room, Royal Pain's disembodied voice telling her to shut up, and with a whimper, Redhead had promised to do so if only the lights would stay on. The lights had stayed on, if only for Royal Pain's aching head.

 

Redhead had gone into their training room the next day and smacked Blue Eyes, her own hand breaking as a result. Blue Eyes had simply frowned at her, confused.

 

The next time they were punished - Redhead's fault this time, sneaking out of her room to go to the bathroom after curfew - he had appeared in her room just before the walls closed. He hadn't been strong enough or had arms long enough to hold the walls at bay, but he kept her company. Redhead spent most of the time ignoring him, even though she was glad he was with her. She justified to herself that she would be glad for _anyone_ to be with her in those times, even Rocks or Royal Pain herself.

 

Despite her own fears, Redhead wished that Blue Eyes had left her alone tonight. She glowered up at Blue Eyes. He stood as close to her as he always had during these punishments and simply returned her gaze without a word. It was one of the first times that Redhead could remember where he didn't look away first, as though he'd glimpsed a deeper understanding of himself, as if he _pitied_ her for her own lack of understanding. She grit her teeth and glared up at him even harder. Blue Eyes shook his head and continued to use his super strength to hold the walls as far apart as possible. As soon as she had her voice back, Redhead was going to _destroy_ him.

 

Part of her thought of the photos on the warehouse wall, the smile she'd sported, the actual happiness she seemed to feel, the _love_ she'd looked up at Blue Eyes with. It was ridiculous, of course, looking away from him and refusing to think about their long-forgotten past.

 

...

 

"We're doing the right thing, aren't we?" Layla asked Warren.

 

He nodded firmly. "We're doing the right thing."

 

"But Redhead - Josie, she... She never would have left _anyone_ to die and yet today, she left Steve behind. I thought... I thought seeing Will would make her feel something, but she just _doesn't care_."

 

"Steve does. He can be persuaded, just like Ethan and Zach were."

 

"He won't leave without her," Layla said, certain of the fact, especially after their fight earlier that day.

 

Warren conceded with a nod. "We could kidnap a few people from the base, try to convince them as a group."

 

"And have to deal with mob mentality if they decide we're... what were her words? _Full of crap?_ " she echoed, wincing.

 

"Well, it's not like we can project the photos straight onto their base. We tried that before, remember, and Royal Pain shut it down."

 

"Yes, I remember," Layla said, sighing heavily. "It just feels like we're getting nowhere. One or two kids a year doesn't do anything against her, especially with those robotic scouts."

 

Warren sighed this time and nodded. "Well, I'm just glad we got Medulla; he was smart not to reveal he remembered his previous life. Nothing escapes that brain of his, huh?"

 

Layla smiled at the memory: finding a teenage Medulla hiding after escaping from Royal Pain's scouts - both human and robotic - only for his first words to be "you changed my diaper" to Warren.

 

"Speaking of the scouts: Royal Pain's definitely going to send them after us. I'll check with Medulla about the barrier's frequency settings," Warren said, moving to stand.

 

Layla kept him down with both a hand and vine. "I already organised that when we got back this afternoon. We'll get alerted when the scouts are overhead so you can relax for now," she added, pressing a kiss to his lips gently.

 

Warren surged up towards her, kissing her back fiercely and almost desperately, his hands hot on her hips as he pulled Layla across the couch to sit on his lap properly.

 

"You guys are _gross_ ," Zach said, scrunching up his nose at them from the doorway.

 

"What did we say about privacy?" Warren asked, head tilted back and trying to resist the urge to set something on fire in frustration.

 

"Medulla says if something's urgent enough, then privacy is a secondary concern," Ethan said.

 

"What's the urgency?" Layla asked, her hand splayed on Warren's chest to help calm him.

 

"The scouts are already overhead. They've been upgraded," Zach said, then he grabbed Ethan's hand and rushed off.

 

"Just how certain are we that making them go through puberty for a _third_ time is a good idea?" Warren muttered as he and Layla stood up.

 

"Medulla said it would help with readjustment. Their nightmares have certainly stopped," Layla admitted, shrugging out of her clothes and into her super outfit.

 

Remembering the terrified screams that accompanied nearly every night once they'd rescued some of the children from Royal Pain, Warren had to agree. The oldest, bar Medulla himself, who had decided to skip another round of puberty since his own modified Pacifier wouldn't work anyway, was Craig at almost fourteen years old. In a different part of Maxville, Magenta was looking after Brian, who could literally climb walls (and from Magenta's messages, drive her up them as well), and Hayley, formerly known as Freeze Girl.

 

Craig was already dressed and waiting outside for them, anxious to join them and help.

 

"Have you been practising?" Warren asked as they headed out to the car.

 

Craig nodded firmly. "Every day, two hours a day. After my homework," he added before Layla could ask.

 

"I'm glad to hear that, Craig. Now, keep an eye out for any scouts. They shouldn't be too far behind the robotic ones," Layla said, looking out the window as they drove out of their base and  followed the line of robotic scouts swarming from the base of Royal Pain's School of Pain.

 

Craig dutifully did as they asked, looking through the broken doorways and windowpanes of Maxville's ruins for any scouts. There was no one in sight and the day was getting dark, too dark to see, even for most of Royal Pain's scouts and their skills.

 

"It's all right, we're almost out now," Warren said, looking to Craig in the rear view mirror.

 

Craig nodded and turned his attention ahead to where Royal Pain's base was creating a large shadow on the ground, the base itself far too high in the sky for Layla's vines or Warren's fireballs to reach. Medulla had created something to help them and they were finally ready to face Royal Pain herself.

 

The car slowed to a stop and Warren switched off the frequency emitter in the car so that it would be seen by scouts again. Layla got out of the car and immediately started to grow a large tree beneath them. It was still too short to reach Royal Pain's base, but with the grappling hook Medulla had devised, a vine could stretch between the top of the tree and the base. They climbed the long vine, Craig using a brief burst of power to make jumping leaps up along the vine and onto the base easier.

 

Finally, they were on Royal Pain's base. It looked remarkably similar to Sky High had, though it was made out of metal rather than bricks and mortar, and behind the school stretched a large complex with rooms for all of the students.

 

"Ready?" Warren asked, looking between Craig and Layla.

 

They both nodded and ran for the front entrance, Craig changing his shape as he did so. Using Royal Pain's own power, he manipulated the entrance to allow them to enter quietly and without detection. They made their way through the school - the same layout as Sky High - and to the back complex where the rest of the students would be having dinner or doing their homework.

 

"Principal Pain is in her office," Craig said, nodding towards the office at the end of the hall that had a light switched on and a dark figure behind the glass.

 

"Go and get as many students out of here as you can," Layla replied, Warren powering up beside her.

 

Craig nodded and took off for the cafeteria, using Royal Pain's power to open bedroom doors and free any students that were being punished along the way.

 

...

 

Blue Eyes almost fell over as the walls started to part on either side of him. Across from him, Redhead frowned and looked to the walls, reaching out to touch one, only for it to move too far for her fingertips to reach.

 

"What's going on?" she asked; Royal Pain _never_ ended her punishments early.

 

"I don't know," Blue Eyes replied, turning to look at the door as it slid open soundlessly.

 

He looked out warily, but Redhead, glad to be free of her punishment, and Blue Eyes himself, ducked past him and was in the wide open hallway a moment later.

 

"Let's see what's going on," she said, seeing the other bedroom doors wide open as well.

 

With nothing else to do for the night, Blue Eyes followed after Redhead, curious himself.

 

They soon came upon the cafeteria where Royal Pain was directing students outside. Blue Eyes frowned when he noticed a red tinge to Royal Pain's hair that he'd never seen before, but Redhead didn't notice, pulling him outside with the others. They continued to follow Royal Pain's instructions to stand outside of the school, though most were confused and looked to each other for an explanation, finding none.

 

Understanding filled them all a moment later as the school rearranged itself, as it often did, at the whim of Royal Pain. The gym made its way to the front of the school, the walls opening to reveal the interior easily. Most students gaped when they saw Blossom and Ignite in the gym, facing off against Royal Pain herself.

 

_Two_ **_heroes_ ** _, real and live and in the flesh, were right there on Pain's base!_

 

"Craig, get out of here!" Blossom called, a vine outstretched and wrapping around Royal Pain.

 

Blue Eyes frowned at Blossom's actions and words.

 

_She and Ignite honestly thought they were saving them, would put their own lives at risk to save Craig? But why? It didn't make sense; they were fed, looked after, schooled, and while they were punished now and then for things that went wrong or they failed to do or just happened, why would these two people give up their own lives and safety to try to 'save' others?_

 

Despite being bound, Royal Pain laughed, the evil sound echoing off the walls of the gym. She smiled when she saw the confused expressions on the two heroes' faces. "You honestly think you _found_ any of my students? This whole thing has been planned from the very beginning."

 

Blossom frowned, looking between Royal Pain and Craig. Changing back from Royal Pain's form into his normal self, Craig took an elaborate bow before the crowd of students.

 

"What is she talking about, Craig?" Ignite asked, words harsh and confused.

 

"My name is Xerox," Craig called out, glaring up at Ignite.

 

"Really, you were named after a fax machine?" Blossom asked, looking over at Royal Pain.

 

"I'm awful with names," she replied with a simple shrug. "Now, children, are you ready for a lesson?" Royal Pain called out, flashes of electricity starting to build up around her body.

 

"Yes!" they chorused loudly, _eagerly_ , as if the lives of the heroes mattered less to them than that of bugs or insects on the ground.

 

Blue Eyes looked at the students around him, wondering if he'd ever trust his life with any of them - or if they'd trust their lives with him. It just wasn't _done_ and he came to realise that, apart from Redhead, he hardly knew the people around him. He certainly wouldn't put his life in their hands.

 

Royal Pain smiled and then the electricity surged down the vine and towards Blossom, electrocuting her fiercely. Ignite moved towards her, his arms lighting up again. Royal Pain let another surge of electricity charge through the vine connecting them, watching as Blossom spasmed. Ignite pulled the vine off Blossom, his hands sizzling with the strength of the electricity.

 

"We're _saving_ these kids! They deserve a choice!" Ignite replied, throwing a ball of fire at Royal Pain.

 

Royal Pain had a shield erected in less than a second, protecting her from the flames. "They deserve to be free, not forced to hide their true selves away in shame simply because a few citizens might get upset or jealous!"

 

Then, seeing something behind the two heroes, Royal Pain smiled yet again. In the crowd, the children watched eagerly, a silence falling across them that Royal Pain couldn't help but relish, as it had been a rarity these last fifteen years.

 

Blue Eyes thought about the punishments he'd received over the years, the things he'd supposedly done wrong - looked too cocky, smiled too much, refused to hurt the stuffed teddy bear, to name a few - and wondered if being good, being a hero, was something that was engrained in him, in his DNA. _If that was the case, then why were the other students - all apparently survivors of Sky High, Maxville - not so reluctant to hurt and cause pain as he was?_ Even Redhead, who apparently he'd married, didn't seem to care about anyone other than herself. Slowly and without drawing the attention of the others around him, Blue Eyes started to slip away from the crowd.

 

"You really shouldn't trust people so easily, you know," she said, as if they were having a pleasant conversation.

 

"Craig - " Ignite started, but was interrupted.

 

"I believe Principal Pain means me," Medulla said from behind them, wearing a jetpack and holding his modified Pacifier.

 

"Medulla?" Ignite said, his jaw dropping.

 

"I didn't lie about remembering my previous life, of course, but that never meant I wanted to return to it. I'm far happier about this life than one divided between heroes and villains, though I suppose you never knew that, did you? You never even asked if we wanted to go with you, you simply thought you were _saving us_ ," he sneered, pointing the Pacifier at them.

 

"You were _hiding_ ," Ignite said, pulling Blossom up onto her feet, his partner swaying a little and looking unsteady.

 

"Of course I was: we were doing training exercises with the scouts. I wanted to see where you'd holed up in Maxville, and Royal Pain had her own plan to reveal your whereabouts, so it was like hitting two birds with one stone," Medulla stated, shrugging.

 

"Admittedly, my plan started far earlier than I would have liked, but to be honest, it is good to be able to finish this once and for all," Royal Pain said, pulling out her own Pacifier from under her cape.

 

Before Warren or Layla could run, both Pacifiers lit up in a fierce streak of lightning across the sky. The brilliant white beams hit the two heroes, and Blossom and Ignite screamed as they were changed into babies. With that done, Royal Pain replaced the Pacifier in its holster and walked over to the newly turned babies. Picking them up from the remains of their tattered clothes, she smiled and held them in her arms carefully.

 

"All right, all of you to bed now! Call the scouts back, would you, Medulla, Xerox, Sonic?"

 

The three young men nodded, Medulla using a small handheld device to redirect the robotic scouts back to the base while Xerox and Sonic boomed out their voices for the human scouts to hear.

 

In the fray of everyone hurrying back to their rooms, no one noticed that Blue Eyes had escaped down the heroes' vine and tree. The car was still on the ground below, the tracks easy to spot since neither Ignite nor Blossom had thought they would lose or would have to hide any more. He got in the car, hands clenched on the steering wheel. He tapped the pedals with his feet one at a time and then both, annoyed that the stupid old car wasn't working. There was a smart rap on the window and Blue Eyes let out a yelp, looking over to see Redhead standing beside the car. He got out, eyes wide.

 

"What the hell are you doing? Get back up there! You know what Royal Pain will do to you if she knows you've escaped."

 

"Yeah, like she won't do the same to you?" Redhead snapped.

 

"She won't because... I won't be there. I'm leaving, Redhead."

 

" _No shit_ , Blue Eyes. You made that pretty damn obvious by climbing down a vine and giant tree in the middle of the night during Royal Pain's epic showdown."

 

Blue Eyes sighed and leaned back against the car, careful that he didn't knock it over. "Who won?" he asked, though he was fairly sure he already knew the answer.

 

"Royal Pain, of course. Though, she did have help from Medulla." Redhead looked up at the base, then to Blue Eyes, her mouth set in a frown. "Are you sure about this, Blue Eyes?"

 

He nodded firmly. "Royal Pain is only ever going to punish us; you _know_ we've received more punishments than any other team and for far less. It's not that I want fairness, since we know life isn't fair, but freedom has got to be better than that."

 

Redhead nodded reluctantly, the all too recent memory of their punishment settling a chill on her body. "Fine, I'll go with you. You won't survive a day without me, especially not in any fights against Royal Pain or other scouts," she said, matter-of-factly.

 

Blue Eyes nodded in agreement, secretly relieved that he wouldn't be alone.

 

"I refuse to get in that death trap. We're flying," she said, picking him up and following the heroes' tracks back to their base.

 

Zach and Ethan had been left behind by Medulla and greeted Blue Eyes and Redhead warily. Blue Eyes smiled down at them, posing in the same way he'd seen his former self had done, hands on his hips and looking like a hero.

 

"We're not here to hurt you, we're here to save you."

 

...

 

The end.

 

Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!

**Author's Note:**

> Redhead - Josie/Jetstream  
> Blue Eyes - Steve/The Commander  
> Ignite - Warren  
> Blossom - Layla


End file.
